The Adventures of Nessie and Her Lost Boys
by alybee
Summary: Post Breaking Dawn. With Bella and Edward away, Esme and Carlisle watch Nessie. Add in Jacob and his pack and the fun is sure to begin.
1. Chapter 1: Discovering Neverland

**A/N: **After I finished my last story, I had several requests for Esme's thoughts about Nessie, Jacob and the others. I decided to try something a little different for this story. I hope you enjoy it. I plan on posting one chapter a week until the story is completed. The next few weeks might get a little crazy but I will work hard to keep to the schedule.

Thanks to miss understood615 for her incredible patience and great beta work. Thanks to ClosetFan for giving me the thumbs up that the story had potential.

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer still owns the Twilight universe, the characters, phrasing, and images. I'm just happy to spend some time in their world.

**Discovering Neverland**

In nearly eight decades, I have not had to worry about cleaning out a refrigerator. Refrigerators are not typically something a family of vampires has need for. In our family, a kitchen and consequently the refrigerator had always been for show. Despite it being only for appearances, I have always insisted that it be a functional kitchen and according to Bella this one would make most home chefs jealous. But still, a kitchen had no use in my family's daily life.

Of course, all of that changed a little over two years ago. First, Edward began dating Bella, a human at the time. As she began spending more and more time with our family, I felt that it was critical that we have something to provide for her in case she became hungry. And then about 9 months ago, Bella's unexpected and unusual pregnancy necessitated a partnership with Jacob and his pack of growing werewolves. When Nessie was born, and Jacob imprinted on her, his pack nearly moved in with us. Food, cooking, and kitchens had become much more central to my life.

Today though, I was stuck cleaning out the refrigerator as I planned for a trip to the store to stock up. Just as I was pulling out some container whose contents resembled more of a science experiment than something edible, I was suddenly tackled by a preschool sized whirlwind with a head of bronze ringlets. My granddaughter, Nessie. How odd to even say that word and yet it was true.

"Good Morning, Nessie. Where are your mom and dad?" I asked her as I looked around. Usually they were close behind but Nessie had recently taken upon herself to try and surprise me. I didn't ever let on that my vampric senses knew she was coming before she entered the house.

"Hi Gramma. Momma and Dad are taking their time coming up from the cottage. I wanted to surprise you." Her bright soprano voice rang with excitement. "They said that I could ask you if I could go with you to the store today."

Hmmm, Edward must have been reading my thoughts again. I was planning on driving up to Seattle to run some errands, and do some major stocking up at the Costco there.

"Nessie, you know you are always welcome to join me but I want to check with your parents to see what their plans are."

Just at that moment, Edward hand in hand with Bella walked through the kitchen door. It had been six months since the confrontation with the Volturi and life had settled into a pleasant routine. However, it had gotten surprisingly quiet recently. With the summer fast approaching, Alice and Jasper decided to spend a few weeks visiting Jasper's former brother, Peter and his mate Charlotte and then spend some time up in Canada. Rose and Emmett chose to resurrect our former plans for a trip to South America to explore some new hunting possibilities and to take what must have been their hundredth honeymoon. I sensed by the look on Edward and Bella's faces that they wanted to ask me something more than would I take Nessie to Costco.

After the standard morning greetings, I let the silence rest between us. Edward knew that I had an inkling that he was going to ask me something so he just jumped into it without formalities.

"Esme, Bella and I were wondering if you and Carlisle would be willing to watch Nessie for us for a couple of weeks. We were thinking of going on a little trip to celebrate our one year anniversary." Edward gave me one of his crooked smiles and waited for me to respond.

"Edward, of course Carlisle and I would be more than happy to watch her for you. And you are more than welcome to return to Isle of Esme for your trip." The look on Edward's face indicated that he was wondering who exactly the mind-reader in this family was.

Bella and Edward exchanged smiles and pulled a little closer together. "Thank you Esme" Bella trilled in her musical voice. "It means so much to us. Our last trip ended so abruptly and though we don't really want to leave Nessie, we know she would be surrounded by people who love her. And we don't expect that you wouldn't have help. Charlie and Sue have agreed to take her for visits and of course Jake and his pack are happy to give you a break."

I chuckled to myself thinking how hard would it be to watch one small half-vampire half-human child for a couple of weeks? Carlisle and I were responsible. Hadn't I been wrangling 5 vampire teenagers for numerous decades? But something in the back of my mind nudged at me. Remember, Nessie is not only Edward's daughter but Bella's as well. Certainly it was true that Bella as a human teenager had been a danger magnet, but surely Nessie who was more like us than a human would be fine. I quickly pushed the thought away before Edward could read it there. Both he and Bella deserved this time away and I would not begrudge them this gift.

I shooed Edward and Bella out of the house encouraging them to begin their preparations for the trip. It would arrive sooner than expected. "Nessie, darling, we have some shopping to do. Let's head out." Nessie's face lit up in a smile and she began jumping up and down. She did not often get to go out in Forks since her rapid aging would be too much of a curiosity and draw too much attention to her and us. So, when we had a chance to head to a larger city, she was always more than ready for an adventure. I grabbed my purse and the shopping list and walked with her to the Mercedes.

The morning had been overcast but the weather forecaster had predicted showers would begin shortly and sure enough as we began the drive to Seattle the cloud released its contents and rain fell in steady drops around us. Though Nessie didn't have to hide from the sun, I did have to be more careful. With the clouds and rain, I would not have to worry about it exposing me and posing a risk.

I had placed Nessie in a booster seat in the back of the car. She didn't particularly like having to sit in the booster seat nor did she care for being relegated to the back seat. I explained to her that since she still looked like a child under the age of six, she would need to use the booster seat. Especially within Forks' jurisdiction, we needed to follow the rules of the road. How would I explain to Charlie that his young granddaughter was sitting in the front seat of the car without a car seat? He might be on a "need to know" basis, but it seemed to make more sense to just follow the law which said children needed to be in a car seat. Nessie didn't allow the seat location to interfere with her stream of questions. Most young children would be asking how long it was till we got there and could they have something to eat. Nessie was certainly not most children. Instead, today, she seemed to be focused on philosophical questions.

"Gramma, why does the rain smell like sulfur and nitrogen?" chirped Nessie. Hmmm…whatever happened to it smells like "rotten eggs"? And how exactly do you explain acid rain, pollution, and its impact on the environment to a child, even one as bright as Nessie. I decided to take the direct approach.

"Well, when people burn fuel, the chemical particles get into the air and it gets absorbed into the environment causing the rain to become more acidic." This answer seemed to satisfy her before she continued with her endless stream of questions. Sometimes I think she enjoyed hearing her own voice and was less interested in waiting for an answer.

Nessie is extremely verbal for her age and can process many things at nearly an adult level though chronologically she is not yet a year and physically more like a 4 year old child. Her intelligence is a definite testament to the theory that genetics plays a big role in our development and that this might be more important than nurture alone. Unfortunately, Darwin might have had one part of the equation a little more accurate than anyone cares to admit. Not that we were going to be publishing an article to that effect in a medical journal anytime soon though.

Our drive to Seattle flew by and soon, we were pulling into the crowded Costco parking lot. I slid the Mercedes into a vacant spot and reminded Nessie to exit slowly from the car. Nessie for the most part was good at remembering not to reveal some of her special gifts, which might shock the casual observer, but the trip to Seattle had her in an exuberant spirit and I was afraid she might leap out of the car and through the parking lot at a pace that would attract notice.

Though I had made several trips to Costco since Jake and his pack had become such a constant in our lives, the circus like atmosphere never ceased to amaze me. Nessie seemed to enjoy collecting the samples that were at various intervals around the store. She would sniff at them and occasionally take a small taste of whatever morsel that seemed more appealing. Though she could digest human food, she still leaned towards a diet of animal blood now that we had successfully weaned her off donated human blood. Over time, I had also noted that Nessie showed greater interest in foods that Jacob favored such as pizza.

We quickly located a cart and Nessie deftly climbed in as I began to maneuver through the crowded aisles. Nessie had my list and a pen and was calling out items to me. Napkins, paper towels, trash bags – check. Laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, air freshener – check.

"Don't forget eggs, milk, cheese, Gramma" chattered Nessie. I did not really need the list. My memory was quite good, but Nessie seemed to enjoy crossing things off as we piled the items in around her. In the meat department, we stocked up on hamburger, steak, chicken, and pork. The wolves were certainly carnivores. Human food still was slightly repulsive to me though I was becoming more accustomed to seeing and smelling it.

With our cart more than overflowing, I positioned us in a line to wait for the next available cashier. It was not unusual for humans to notice Nessie with her long bronze ringlets cascading down her back and chocolate brown eyes and alabaster skin. She was truly a beautiful child. Most shoppers assumed that she was my daughter so I always had to chuckle silently to myself as the occasional passer-by would overhear Nessie referring to me as her grandmother. I would just smile and shrug my shoulders. I might look 26 but in reality I was old enough to be Nessie's grandmother several times over.

After paying for the food and supplies, and loading up the car, the return trip to Forks mirrored our trip to Seattle. No sooner than I had turned the key in the ignition than Nessie was pelting me with more questions. This time she had moved onto the concept of war. Where did the child come up with these questions?

After a moment of silence, I could nearly hear the wheels of her mind turning. Quietly Nessie asked "Gramma, do Vampires fight each other the same as humans fight each other?" I was stunned into my own moment of quiet. "Why do you ask that Nessie?" I responded.

"I was just thinking about the time when all the Vampires came to visit us in the winter and the angry vampires in the cloaks." Yes, Nessie would easily remember all of the details of each of our visitors and the confrontation in the forest clearing with the Volturi. Though the situation never got as far as a battle, the emotions and tension from that day would certainly have made a lasting impression in her mind.

I decided honesty would be the best response. "Sadly, Vampires do at times fight one another just as humans fight against one another. However, your grandfather and I have always sought for peaceful resolutions with our encounters with all those around us." Nessie seemed to accept my answer and fortunately did not inquire about vampires vs. werewolves. I took an unnecessary deep breath and was thankful for the peaceful silence of the remaining drive home.

As we arrived at the house and I began to unload the car, Nessie hurried to open the door for me. Edward and Bella had heard us arrive and joined me in putting away all the supplies and food. While we worked, Nessie flitted in and out of the kitchen. During one of her trips, I noticed that she held a book in her hands.

"Momma, what is this book?" Nessie inquired of Bella. She held up a worn hardbound book.

Bella glanced over and smiled at her daughter. "Oh, it's my old copy of _The Adventures of Peter Pan_ from when I was a little girl. I was going through a box of books that I had brought from Grandpa Charlie's and I found it near the bottom. I thought that maybe you would enjoy reading the story with me. I remembered loving the tales of Neverland and Peter, and Wendy, and the lost boys when I was a little girl." Edward piped in and shared with Bella and Nessie how he had enjoyed the tale as a child and particularly enjoyed the exchanges between Peter and Captain Hook.

The excitement of a new story was taking hold of Nessie and her eagerness was evident in her eyes and at the corners of her lips. Though she could easily read the story on her own, Bella and Nessie both enjoyed the closeness of sharing a story together. Edward and I encouraged Bella to join Nessie in the living room while we finished putting things away. I could hear them as they settled on the love seat and Bella's clear voice carried the beginning words of the story throughout the room….. _"All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, 'Oh, why can't you remain like this forever!'"……_

The afternoon passed by in a lazy manner with Bella and Nessie curled together reading _The_ _Adventure of_ _Peter Pan_. Edward played the piano quietly in the background providing the story with its own unique musical score. I climbed the stairs to my room and began to think about my next project as the music and words filled my head. It had suddenly occurred to me how I might be able to keep Nessie entertained this summer while Bella and Edward were away.

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Quote is cited directly from _The Adventures of Peter Pan_, original copyright © 1911 by J.M. Barrie, chapter 1, page 1.


	2. Chapter 2: Hello, Goodbye

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer still owns the Twilight universe, the characters, phrasing, and images. J.M. Barrie owns Peter, Wendy and the others. I'm just happy to spend some time in their world.

**A/N**: I am becoming more indebted to my beta, miss understood615. Thanks for putting up with my many revisions and endless questions.

Just a heads up...the school year is ending and life is crazy..I will do my best to get chapter 3 up next week. Reviews will help motivate me! :-)

**Hello, Goodbye**

"_**No. 27 was only a few yards distant, but there had been a slight fall of snow, and Father and Mother Darling picked their way over it deftly not to soil their shoes. They were already the only persons in the street, and all the stars were watching them. Stars are beautiful, but they may not take an active part in anything, they must just look on forever. It is a punishment put on them for something they did so long ago that no star now knows what it was. So the older ones have become glassy-eyed and seldom speak (winking is the star language), but the little ones still wonder. They are not really friendly to Peter, who had a mischievous way of stealing up behind them and trying to blow them out; but they are so fond of fun that they were on his side tonight, and anxious to get the grown-ups out of the way. So as soon as the door of 27 closed on Mr. and Mrs. Darling there was a commotion in the firmament, and the smallest of all the stars in the Milky Way screamed out: 'Now, Peter!'" - J.M. Barrie, The Adventures of Peter Pan**_

June had passed quickly as Edward and Bella made their arrangements to return to the Isle of Esme in July to celebrate an early first anniversary. The others were still away and were anticipated to arrive back in mid-August. The quiet that had settled around our home was unusual. Aside from the few years that Edward had spent apart from us, I could not remember a time that Carlisle and I had been alone. And we had never been alone with a small child. This would be a new experience.

Carlisle, Nessie and I drove Edward and Bella to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The drive to the airport would allow the three to be together a little longer before their extended separation. Nessie snuggled in the back seat between her parents. This would be the first time in her short life that they would be separated. If Jasper had been here, I am certain that he would have been picking up varying degrees of emotions emanating from each one of them. As much as Edward and Bella wanted this time away, I expected that they were thinking about how much their daughter would change in the five weeks that they would be gone. I noticed that Nessie had also been a little clingier with her parents over the past few days. She was excited to spend the time with us and Jake, but after her conversation a several weeks ago it occurred to me that she might be remembering a different kind of parting from back in the clearing when things seemed beyond hope and her parents prepared to send her with Jacob in order to save her. Nessie wore the same gold locket around her small neck that her mother had given to her at Christmas. And Bella once again uttered the same words "More than my own life" as she placed kisses on the little girl's face and top of her head. Edward hugged his daughter tightly to himself and kissed both her cheeks and her forehead. He had updated her mp3 player with the music he had created to accompany the Peter Pan story she loved so much. She had asked him to play it so frequently that he had hoped this would keep him close to her during his absence. Unlike the previous parting scene, the emotions behind the shared "I love you's" between the three of them resonated with a joy not present those many months ago.

When we returned from dropping them off at the airport, we settled Nessie into bed in Edward's old room. Before she would fall asleep, she had insisted on Carlisle reading one of her favorite parts in _The Adventures of Peter Pan_. Since she had first discovered the book, she kept returning to the tales that rested between its bound covers. As I watched Carlisle read to Nessie, my heart nearly burst. I couldn't help wondering for a moment what it would have been like if Carlisle and I had been able to have our own child. The picture unfolding before me was a bittersweet gift. We had been denied, by the nature of what we were, the possibility of having a child of our own and yet we had been blessed with this miracle. I held this precious moment in my thoughts and heart reluctant to let it pass.

As the night wore on and Nessie slept soundly upstairs, Carlisle was called in to assist with some people who had been severely injured in a car accident. So while I waited for him to return and for Nessie to awake, I continued to work on my plans to surprise Nessie. I was eager to share my ideas with her and to watch how she would take pleasure in this.

Just before dawn, Carlisle returned. We knew we had a little more time before Nessie would awake. Carlisle settled down on the love seat and began reading the New York Times that we had specially delivered. I curled up next to him. As he stretched out his long legs before him, I draped my legs over his lap and leaned against the arm of the couch. I had a sketch pad in my hands and I was working on the final drawing of a stage and several sets that I envisioned building in our backyard.

Today was going to be one of those uncharacteristically sunny and warm days for our area. We would need to stay close to home and out of the eyes of humans. As the sun continued to rise, I could hear the birds singing in the trees and Nessie beginning to wake. No more than 30 seconds later, my darling granddaughter was bounding down the stairs in her nightgown and hair all in disarray.

"Morning, Gramma and Grandpa" Nessie sang as she jumped onto the couch between us.

"Good morning, Nessie" replied Carlisle "Did you sleep well?" She bobbed her head affirmatively and began to look towards the kitchen. As if right on cue, Jacob burst through the kitchen door and then into the main part of the house. I'm not sure whose face was more lit up. Jacob's or Nessie's.

"Hey Nessie, how are you this morning?" Jacob inquired. "Have you eaten breakfast?" As Nessie shook her head no, he reached down and scooped her into his long arms. Recently, Jacob had convinced Nessie to try eating pancakes. I'm not sure if Nessie enjoyed the pancakes or the syrup more. I rose from the sofa and headed towards the kitchen.

"Nessie and Jake, do you want chocolate chip pancakes or strawberry?" I asked.

"Strawberry" they cried in unison.

I set about pulling out all of the ingredients I would need to make the pancakes. Jake began to take out plates, silverware, and cups to set the table. Nessie wanted to make orange juice and began pulling out oranges. Jake had finished setting the table and joined Nessie at the counter. He found the citrus juicer and set it before her. As with most food things, Nessie seemed to enjoy the process more than consuming the final product. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Jake helped Nessie cut and squeeze the oranges and fill the container with the fresh nectar.

While the bacon sizzled in the cast iron skillet, and the pancakes bubbled and set on the griddle, I sliced up strawberries and warmed up some syrup. Jacob held Nessie securely in his arms so that she could oversee the pancakes on the griddle.

"Esme, for a vampire, you are an amazing cook."

"Thank you Jacob. I am glad that you enjoy it so much." It was moments like this that I realized that he had become my unofficial seventh child. Though he still spent time with his father who cared deeply for him, I suspected that there were moments when he missed his own mother who had died years earlier. In the months since Nessie had been born, Jacob had integrated more and more into our family. As I watched him holding Nessie, I could see the qualities that had attracted Bella to Jacob during the time that Edward had left her. His easy smile, quick laugh, unswerving loyalty, and sense of adventure would and did attract Bella to him. He filled a part of a void that was created during Edward's absence and his friendship healed some of the wounds that had been ripped through her during that dark period. We were all thankful to Jacob for the way he had cared for Bella during that time though it did generate some significant challenges for Edward when he returned.

In some ways, Jacob reminded me of a cross between my three sons. He had a similar playfulness and carefree nature of Emmett. He shared Jasper's passion for a fight, and Edward's protectiveness. However, unlike Edward or the others he hadn't had the time to develop or mature. His physical self might be that of a fully developed adult, the byproduct of being a shape-shifting wolf, but his emotional self was still a 17 year old teenager.

When the food was ready, I carried it out to the dining room table. Jacob and Nessie hungrily dug into the pile of pancake and fresh strawberries. While they ate, I decided to share with them my idea. I retrieved my sketch book from the couch where I had left it and brought it over to the table.

"So Nessie, I know how much you have been enjoying the _Adventures of Peter Pan_, and I was wondering if you wouldn't like to re-enact your favorite stories from the book on a stage?"

Nessie's dark brown eyes lit up and her smile reached from her lips to her eyes. Her head bobbing, causing her ringlets to fall into her eyes, further emphasized how thrilled she was by the suggestion. It was radiating from every inch of her body. Jacob had a curious look on his face but didn't seem surprised by my proposal. Carlisle poked his head out from the newspaper and smiled and ducked back behind it before he could be dragged into whatever plan I had envisioned.

We quickly cleaned up the table and kitchen so that I could spread my drawings out before them. I shared my ideas for building a stage out in the backyard. I asked Jacob if he and the pack wouldn't mind lending a hand with the building of the stage. Nessie stared up at Jacob with her wide chocolate brown eyes that she had inherited from Bella and silently waited for his response. She had already learned that she could easily get Jacob to do anything she wanted by giving him one of those looks. And Jacob did not resist the urge to give her what she desired.

In my fore-planning, I had already made arrangements for the lumber and other materials to be delivered to the house today. Jake gave Nessie a quick kiss to the top of her head and told her that he would return shortly. He needed to round up Seth and the others to help with the building of the stage.

I suggested to Nessie that she get dressed and that we try to do something with her wild curls while we waited for Jake to return and for the building materials to be delivered. At that suggestion, my little nymph nearly flew up to the room she was staying in. I followed just as quickly behind.

Before Alice and Jasper had left on their trip, she had gone on one of her shopping sprees with the intent of making sure that Nessie had enough clothes until she returned. In truth, Nessie had enough clothes for several childhoods, but with Alice being Alice she couldn't resist an excuse to shop. She also didn't feel that she could trust Bella to make sure Nessie had just the right clothing. With the little girl's accelerated growth, she did manage to outgrow most outfits in one or two wearings. Nessie, unlike her mother, seemed to have acquired her aunt's interest in clothes and fashion sense. She was rummaging through the drawers and closet to find just the right outfit. She finally settled in on a purple floral print tank top and a pair of white Bermuda shorts and her sneakers. Now for the hair, I brushed through the tangled mess and put it into two braids.

As we were descending the stairs, I could hear the sound of a truck traveling down the driveway. The lumber. Just in time. Carlisle met the delivery man at the door. He signed for the materials and directed the man to drop off the supplies behind the house. I quickly threw on a cover-up and a wide-brim hat. The sun was already shining pretty brightly and I needed to take care not to allow it to expose my skin. Nessie was circling around the delivery men with an almost palpable electrical energy coming off of her.

"Careful little one, we don't want to get in the way of the men as they work." I commented as I scooped her up in my arms.

"Yeah, this is going to be so much fun." She exclaimed to everyone and placed her small hand to my cheek. Nessie was still able to express much more with her gift than just through words alone. Vivid images of my sketches and building of the stage flickered into my mind.

By the time, the men were finished unloading all the materials. Jake and Seth were emerging from the woods. There was a container nearby with clothes that we kept stocked for Jake and his pack which alleviated their need to carry clothes with them.

"Hi Esme. Hi Nessie". Seth reached for Nessie from her place in my arms and gave her a huge hug. Just as she had done with me, she reached up to Seth and shared with him the images she had only moments ago shown me.

"Leah and the others guys will be arriving shortly. Seth and I can help get things started until they arrive." Jacob mentioned as he surveyed the lumber material set out on the lawn.

Carlisle had come out to see how things were going and led the boys into the garage to pull out the necessary tools that we would need. Nessie followed me into the house to get the plans for the stage. By the time that all of the tools and necessary equipment had been unpacked from the garage, Embry, Quil, and Leah had arrived. Leah hung back some and leaned against a tree to wait for directions. She was the least comfortable in our presence though she would never let Jacob down. Jacob had already informed the others of our plans so there wasn't a lot of need to go into detail. Before long, a steady rhythm was created as my drawings began to take shape. The unusual sun continued to warm up the area around us making for a pleasant work environment and the day passed quickly with momentary nutrition breaks for the pack. Yes, this idea was going to work out just fine.

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Quote is cited directly from _The Adventures of Peter Pan_, copyright © 1911 by J.M. Barrie, chapter 2 pages 24-25.

The parting scene between Edward, Bella and Nessie was taken in part from Breaking Dawn copyright © 2008 by Stephenie Meyer, pages 722-723.

Please review…Is this story working….not working…let me know your thoughts…


	3. Chapter 3: I can fly!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer still owns the Twilight universe, the characters, phrasing, and images. J.M. Barrie definitely owns the World of Peter and Wendy and their friends. And I am respectfully introducing them to one another…

**A/N**: Before I get lynched…I do want to say that I recognize that the actual story of "Peter Pan" is far from politically correct. It was written in 1911 that should explain it. There are a lot of culturally insensitive references to Native Americans and the comments about women and wives might not be any better. However, with that said, I just ask the reader to "hang in there" – I'm hoping that you will be pleasantly surprised.

Kudos to miss understood615 who despite a busy schedule made sure everything looked good! Thanks to those who have read the story, and added it to your list of favorites. I still want to encourage reviews….please!

"I can fly!"

"_**In his absence things are usually quiet on the island. The faeries take an hour longer in the morning, the beasts attend to their young, the redskins feed heavily for six days and six nights, and when pirates and lost boys meet they merely bite their thumbs at each other. But with the coming of Peter, who hates lethargy, they are all under way again: if you put your ear to the ground now, you would hear the whole island seething with life." – J.M. Barrie,**__**The Adventures of Peter Pan**_, _**chapter 5 p. 58.**_

Esme's POV

Over the past week, Jake and his pack had worked steadily on building the stage. There was a comfortable rhythm as they worked together. If I ever thought that I would be missing my own sons during this time, I was slightly mistaken. It was true that I missed each one of them, but the squabbles, sparing, and good-natured ribbing that was standard fare between the wolves filled the recent quiet with a more familiar cacophony.

I had come into the house to ready lunch for the Leah and the boys when the phone rang. I reached for it and pressed the talk button. On the other end of the line, I could hear Edward with Bella in the background.

"Hi Esme, how are you?" chimed in my favorite son and his wife.

"Oh, it is so good to hear from you. How are you? How are things on the island?" Their last visit had resulted in damaged furniture that Edward had repaired and Bella's unexpected pregnancy.

I could hear them both erupt into peals of laughter. I wondered if we were both thinking about the same thing. "We're doing well" Edward managed to squeeze out between laughs. "Is Nessie there? We have missed her so very much and can't wait to hear her voice."

I took the phone over to the door and called out for my granddaughter to come in. When she heard that it was her father and mother, she nearly flew into the house. Her cherubic face was lit up with excitement and her eyes sparkled with anticipation of talking with her parents. I passed the phone to her and watched her bring it to her ear.

"Hi momma and daddy" Nessie sang into the mouthpiece. "We're building a stage."

I couldn't quite make out what Edward said to her but I was certain he was shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose as he wondered what I was currently doing to indulge his daughter.

Nessie chatted for awhile with both her parents. Surprisingly she didn't elaborate on the stage but instead she changed the topic and shared with them the visit she had on Sunday with her Grandpa Charlie and Sue. They had taken her up to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. This wasn't something that Carlisle and I could do with Nessie since animals tended to become agitated and frightened around us. Consequently, I was glad that there was a special activity she could share with Charlie. Though we didn't discuss it, Charlie was certainly aware of Nessie's rapid growth and forays around Forks were limited which necessitated trips out of town. Charlie knew that we would be leaving the area soon and any time that he could spend with Nessie was extremely precious to him.

As I tuned into the one side of the conversation, I observed an animated little girl babble on about the zoomamium which was an indoor play environment that brings to life an African waterhole and also contains a nature exchange. Woodland Park was created to resemble the African safari. The park staff led a variety of activities from informational sessions to storytelling to jewelry making to an African Savanna Safari led by a Maasai interpreter. Charlie and Sue were just as enamored by Nessie as the rest of us and she had managed to get them to squeeze in about everything that the park had to offer in the span of about 8 hours. When Charlie carried her in upon their return, she was sound asleep with an Upapi beaded bracelet circling her wrist.

I picked up the other phone and finally coaxed the three of them off the line ensuring them that they could call one another again. After lingering good-byes and wishing one another fun and much love, I hit the end button.

By the time Nessie was done with her conversation, I had managed to put together a picnic lunch for the pack. Together, we carried out enough sandwiches, chips, and brownies to feed a small country. Quil and Embry took two wooden horses and a sheet of plywood and created an impromptu table. Once the food was placed down, the guys dug in greedily. Leah hung back but surprisingly she took a plate of food to eat. I had noted over the past week with all of the concentrated time she had been at our home that she appeared a tiny bit more comfortable. It may have also been that with all of the others gone she did not feel as threatened by my presence alone. In a matter of time, the pile of food had disappeared. The pack certainly gave new meaning to the term "wolfed down" as they finished off every crumb of food set before them.

"Hey Ness, did you tell your parents about the stage?" inquired Jacob swallowing the last bite of a brownie.

Surprisingly Nessie didn't respond right away but played with her lunch. She glanced up shyly at her favorite buddy and quietly admitted that she hadn't. "I-I started to but I changed my mind. I want to surprise them."

"No problem, I think that's a great idea" he assured her. "When they come back, we can show them the stage, the sets, and even the play."

Seth piped in "Now that the stage is almost complete. What will the play be about anyway?"

"Peter Pan, of course!" chorused Jake, Nessie and I. Jake had been around when Bella was reading the story with her daughter and he had also been roped into reading various portions of the tale lending his own interpretation and elaborations to some of the passages.

Leah and Embry looked at one another and rolled their eyes. Leah mumbled something under her breath about the book being insensitive to Native Americans and girls. I made a mental note to try and talk with her. I had a better understanding of what it meant to be a girl in that time period and maybe I could share some of it with her. Quil just gave a thoughtful nod of his head in Jake's direction. He had imprinted on Emily's niece Claire when she was two and over the past year, he had participated in enough tea parties, and dress up games that the thought of acting out Peter Pan didn't faze him.

Before anyone could say anymore, Nessie had darted into the house.

"Ness, where are you going?" shouted Jacob.

"I'm getting my book about Peter Pan."

As my granddaughter ran in to get her book, I took this opportunity to get my drawings from the house. I had etched out several potential sets depending on the scenes that Nessie might decide to re-enact. There was one for the Darling's nursery, another for Neverland, and then ones for the pirates' ship, the mermaids' lagoon, and the home of the "Piccaninny" tribe.

"Here it is" yelled Nessie holding up the worn hardcover book for everyone to see. I had already opened up my portfolio and removed the sketches that I had made. Over the wooden table the various images stared up at us. Seth picked up one of Wendy and the lost boys sitting inside their home underground and studied the details. Nessie plopped the book open in front of everyone. With her tiny hands, she began to carefully flip through the pages in an attempt to decide which of the many tales to retell. As she struggled to select her favorite scene from the book, a small sigh escaped from her lips and she rested her cheek against the palm of her hand.

Jacob suddenly jumped up unable to tolerate her frustration. In an attempt to resolve her indecision, Jake looked around at his pack and said "Maybe we can help you Nessie. What if we share something we like about the story and why we like it?"

Embry admitted that he had never read the book and only had seen the animated version of it. Quil echoed Embry and added that Claire loved the animated version particularly Tinkerbell.

Surprisingly, it was Leah who had read the book. I wasn't astounded by this revelation. Now I could understand where the grumbling had come from.

Nessie flipped open the book contemplating a few more scenes and finally selecting one she began to read in her clear sweet voice.

" _**The most haunting time at which to see them (mermaids) is at the turn of the moon, when they utter strange wailing cries; but the lagoon is dangerous for mortals then, and until the evening of which we have now to tell, Wendy had never seen the lagoon by moonlight, less from fear, for of course Peter would have accompanied her, than because she had strict rules about every one being in bed by seven. She was often at the lagoon, however, on sunny days after rain, when the mermaids come up in extraordinary numbers to play with their bubbles. The bubbles of many colours made in rainbow water they treat as balls, hitting them gaily from one to another with their tails, and trying to keep them in the rainbow till they burst. The goals are at each end of the rainbow, and the keepers only are allowed to use their hands. Sometimes hundreds of mermaids will be playing in the lagoon at a time, and it is quite a pretty sight." (chapter 8, p. 95)**_

While she read, the images of the mermaids playing in the lagoon came alive. When she finished reading, her eyes had lit up and a smile tugged at her lips and then she sighed wistfully. "I want to play rainbow ball with the mermaids."

Nessie turned over the book to me and I flipped through the story deciding on which part I would read. As I looked through various sections, I paused over the end where Wendy and her brothers return home. Mrs. Darling's pain over the disappearance of her children and her initial disbelief at their return tugged in strange ways at my heart. Instead, I choose to share with them a different scene. I opened up to the beginning of Chapter 17 and read aloud:

"_**I hope you want to know what became of the other boys. They were waiting below to give Wendy time to explain about them; and when they counted five hundred they went up. They went up by the stair, because they thought this would make a better impression. They stood in a row in front of Mrs. Darling, with their hats off, and wishing they were not wearing their pirates clothes. They said nothing but their eyes asked her to have them. They ought to have looked at Mr. Darling also, but they forgot him. Of course Mrs. Darling said at once that she would have them; but Mr. Darling was curiously depressed, and they saw that he considered six a rather large number. 'I must say,' he said to Wendy, 'that you don't do things by halves,' a grudging remark which the twins thought was pointed at them." (chapter 17, p. 192)**_

I looked around at the faces of the boys sitting around me. I couldn't help but imagine the same scene in the book transposed with the faces of Jacob, Seth, Quil and Embry. Jacob shook me out of my reverie by asking for the book that lay open in my hands. He quickly found the place in the book that he wanted. In his deep voice, he read out:

"'_**Fling the girl overboard,' cried Hook; and they made a rush at the figure in the cloak.**_

'_**There's none can save you now, missy,' Mullins hissed jeeringly.**_

'_**There's one,' replied the figure.**_

'_**Who's that?'**_

'_**Peter Pan the avenger!' came the terrible answer; and as he spoke Peter flung off his cloak. Then they all knew who 'twas that had been undoing them in the cabin, and twice Hook essayed to speak and twice he failed. In that frightful moment I think his fierce heart broke.**_

_**At last he cried, 'Cleave him to the brisket,' but without conviction.'" (chapter 15, p. 174)**_

When Jake finished reading his passage, the group erupted with guffaws of laughter and slaps on his back.

Since Seth, Embry and Quil had not read the book, they each shared scenes from the classic Peter Pan video. "I like how they could fly" stated Seth. He scooped up Nessie from Jacob's lap and started to fly her around the yard. Everyone started laughing again and Nessie squealed "I can fly! I can fly!" between giggles.

Once Embry was able to catch his breath from laughing so hard, he suggested the scene where Peter and the boys fight Captain Hook in the movie. Quil high-fived him and seconded it. This was no surprise given their penchant for a good fight.

Leah, by this time, appeared to be having a change of heart over the story and was slowly flipping back and forth between two chapters in the book. She finally decided on one of them though I somehow guessed it was not her first choice. She cleared her throat and began to read:

"_**Around the brave Tiger Lily were a dozen of her stoutest warriors, and they suddenly saw the perfidious pirates bearing down upon them." (chapter 12, p. 139)**_

Closing the book, she gave a nod of her head and reveled in the fact that it was a girl who led the Piccaninny Tribe into battle against the pirates.

With the exceptional vision of both vampires and the wolves, none of us had particularly noticed how long we had been outside and that the sun was beginning to set. Our enthusiasm for the discussion had carried us late into the afternoon and into the early evening. All of a sudden, I noticed the Mercedes' approaching the house. The others had picked up on the sound of the car and recognized that Carlisle was returning from work. We could hear him park his car and the door shut behind him. In a moment, the love of my life was coming around the house carrying a package wrapped in brown postal wrap.

"Hi Grandpa" trilled Nessie jumping up into Carlisle's arms and throwing her small arms around his neck in an enthusiastic embrace. He adjusted the package he was holding as he returned her affection.

"Hi Doc" Jacob called out and was followed by various greetings from the others. Carlisle returned their words as he made his way over to me. He gently returned Nessie to the ground and turned towards me.

"Hello Love, How was your day?" I said as I gave him a quick squeeze and slipped my hand into his.

"Good." He replied as he returned my hug. "We had a fairly quiet day at the hospital."

"What's in the package, Grandpa?" inquired our darling angel as she danced around us.

"I brought you a little something that might help you with your summer project. It just arrived today from England. I have a friend who knew Mr. Barrie when the play about Peter Pan first debuted in London in 1904. Amazingly he still had an autographed copy of one of the original manuscripts. Of course, the original was too fragile to loan out. So instead, he had a special copy made for you." Wrapped within the brown packaging was the rare document of J.M. Barrie's original play _**Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Never Grow Up**_.

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**A/N**: I had planned to post one chapter of this story each week until it is done. However, I have a special piece from Carlisle's POV that I want to post next week in honor of Father's Day and I am afraid that I won't be able to finish Chapter 4 of this story, the Carlisle piece, and close out the school year all in the same week. So I expect to postpone the next chapter of this to the week after Father's Day. Please, consider putting me on author alert if you are interested in checking out that piece. For those who read my Esme story "Children of Her Heart", the new piece will be kind of a bookend to that story.

Here's a challenge...if I can get 10 reviews on this chapter...I'll work to post chapter 4 of this in addition to the Father's Day piece next week. Let me know what scene you think they should act out from Peter Pan or any other feedback that you care to share! :-)

All quotes are cited directly from _The Adventures of Peter Pan_, copyright © 1911 by J.M. Barrie


	4. Chapter 4: Never Smile at a Crocodile!

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer still owns the Twilight universe, the characters, phrasing, and images. J.M. Barrie definitely owns the World of Peter and Wendy and their friends. And this is the tale of what happens when two world collide.

**A/N**: In order to have a little fun, I needed to include additional points of views. This chapter brings in some of Jacob's POV – gosh I hope I don't mess this up…

I know I took a week off from posting this story in order to post my Carlisle story, but I have made up by posting an extra long chapter. Thank you to everyone who read the Carlisle piece and marked it as a favorite.

Once again, a big thanks to miss understood615 for the numerous times that she has read and re-read this chapter and for all the great suggestions and ideas.

**Never Smile at a Crocodile!**

"_**I have often," said Smee, "noticed your strange dread of crocodiles."**_

"_**Not of crocodiles," Hook corrected him, "but of that one crocodile." He lowered his voice. "It liked my arm so much, Smee, that it has followed me ever since, from sea to sea and from land to land, licking its lips for the rest of me." – J. M. Barrie Chapter 5 p. 68**_

_**Esme's POV**_

Standing in front of the glass wall looking out onto the backyard, I watched as the rain came down in rivulets against the window making it difficult to see out even with my exceptional vision. The rain was going to continue to come down hard and there would be no working on the stage or any of the sets today. Instead, I had decided to take a drive up to Seattle and wander through several vintage clothing stores looking for potential costumes for Nessie and the others to wear in the play. I turned back to the computer and the search I had performed on Google was still waiting for me. After checking out various websites, I had narrowed it down to 4 different stores but two stood out. Red Light Clothing Exchange and Arnie's Vintage Costumers appeared to have a decent selection of period pieces that would be appropriate for the early 20th century. Items could be purchased or rented. I quickly wrote down the addresses and phone numbers. I would enter the locations into the car's GPS later.

As I sat staring at the computer screen, I chuckled silently to myself. I never realized that all of my dresses from when I was a child might actually be worth something a century later. Even after I became a vampire, it wasn't practical to keep everything. We moved so often and sometimes without much notice that keeping pieces of clothing just because it might be needed for a future play didn't make sense. While I was closing out from the internet, Carlisle drifted into the room. He came over to where I sat and kissed me on the top of my head. "Good morning, love." I gently patted his hand where it rested on my left shoulder and gazed up at him as I acknowledged his greeting. Carlisle had been doing his own internet search upstairs. Since he had brought home the _**Peter Pan**_ manuscript, Nessie had become enthralled in the idea of seeing a play on stage. We had realized that in her short life she had not had the opportunity to see live theater. Unfortunately, unless we wanted to arrange for an impromptu trip to London, we would not be seeing Peter Pan professionally performed on stage. Carlisle had even attempted to acquire tickets to several other musicals but to no avail. _**Wicked**_ would be playing in Seattle in the fall and we had just missed the _**Lion King**_. There seemed to be a derth of age-appropriate musicals in the surrounding area this season. Alas, it appeared that the only way that Nessie would be seeing Peter Pan performed on stage would be on DVD. Fortunately, I found a copy of the broadway version of the play starring Cathy Rigby. With today's rain, it might be the perfect day for video viewing.

I picked up the phone and put a call into Jacob. On the third ring, Billy picked up.

"Hello"

"Good morning, Billy. This is Esme. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. How may I help you Mrs. Cullen?" I had told him many times to call me by my first name but he still insisted on using the more proper form.

"I was hoping that you would know where Jacob was? He left last night after Nessie went down to sleep. I wanted to ask him if he could watch her today while I went up to Seattle." Carlisle had come up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He had moved my hair away from my neck for better access and was trailing light kisses from my jaw to my collarbone and nearly caused me to drop the phone from my hand. His attempt at distracting me was working; however, I managed to catch Billy's promise to get the message to Jacob and squeeze out a quick bye as I hit the end button. In one smooth move, I had gently tossed the phone over to the couch and turned around in Carlisle's arms so that we were facing one another.

"Well Dr. Cullen" I said as my breathing began to catch "I thought you were headed out to work."

"Well Mrs. Cullen, it won't take me that long to get there" he whispered into my neck as his nose brushed along my jawline.

As we stood there, completely absorbed in one another, we suddenly heard a twinkling giggle coming from the top of the stairs. Nessie. She had awoken and was on her way down. Carlisle and I stared into each other's eyes and pressed our foreheads together briefly. We would have to continue this later after work, shopping, and tucking Nessie into bed.

"Good morning Nessie" we both greeted her.

She nearly flew down the stairs and rushed into our open arms. "Good morning" she squealed in return. Her smile lit up her entire face. We stood momentarily together in a family hug. I breathed in her scent deeply and gave her a squeeze. Her fragrance hinted at a mixture of jasmine, and citrus with a touch of vanilla. After one more hug, Carlisle planted a kiss on the top of both our heads and excused himself to go off to the hospital.

I stood holding Nessie in my arms in front of the glass wall. We both seemed to be enjoying the moment and were silently mesmerized by the rain that continued to fall steadily from the sky. Finally, I broke out of the trance that had seemed to fall over us and asked her about breakfast. "Nessie would you like me to make you some scrambled eggs?" Eggs seemed to be her favorite human food and she excitedly nodded her head.

Off to the kitchen we walked. I placed her on one of the stools and proceeded to get out the eggs and some other items from the refrigerator. After pouring the beaten eggs into the hot pan, I popped a slice of bread in the toaster and washed some blueberries and raspberries which I placed in a small bowl. Once the eggs were finished, I set the food before her and sat down across from her at the wooden countertop.

"Nessie, how would you like Jacob to watch you today while I run some errands in Seattle?"

Her head came up and I could see the excitement in her eyes. Her mouth was filled with scrambled eggs so she enthusiastically nodded her response.

"After you finish breakfast, we can get you dressed and something tells me Jacob will be here by then." I knew that the communication between the wolves would be rapid once Billy got the message out to Seth or one of the others. When it concerned Nessie, Jake would not delay. "I also have the DVD of _**Peter Pan**_ performed on stage that the two of you could watch since the rain is going to continue all day."

"Gramma, what are you going to do in Seattle?"

"I'm going to search for some costumes for your play. There are a few stores that carry vintage clothing that might be perfect for what we need. I may also try and find some fabric to make some extra clothes and to use in the set designs."

"How do you know what they wore in Peter Pan? The book doesn't have any pictures." Nessie popped a couple of blueberries into her mouth and began to chew thoughtfully.

"Well, Nessie, I actually was about the same age as Wendy was in the book when it first came out. I think I might just be able to find the right outfits that we need."

"I can't wait to see the clothes, but it will be fun to see Jake."

My little darling finished up her breakfast and I washed up the few dishes and put everything away. "Let's get you cleaned up and ready to spend the day with Jake." We headed up to Edward's old room where she had been staying. I knew better than to try and dress her. Rosalie and Alice had trained her well. She pulled a stool over to the dresser and opened the drawer and rummaged around looking at the various brightly colored tops. After some deliberation, she pulled out a long-sleeved top in hot pink with appliquéd lace on the chest and cuffs. She pulled it on over her head and moved to the next drawer to search for a pair of pants. She decided on a pair of cuff Capri jeans that she quickly stepped into. Now for the shoes. Nessie opened the closet door and glanced at the array of sandals, sneakers, and shoes. She quickly selected a pair of slip-on sporty flats with a diagonal elastic strap in matching pink.

Just about the time, I had finished brushing her wild ringlets into a ponytail, I could hear the door to the kitchen open. Nessie and I managed to make it down the stairs and into the kitchen in time to see Jacob shaking some of the water out of his hair. I stifled a laugh from escaping my lips. The others were freer with their teasing of Jacob, but I had to admit the image did remind me of a dog shaking water from his fur. He now stood before us barefooted and wearing only a pair of damp cut-offs. I handed him a towel to finish drying off and he then found a t-shirt to throw on.

"Hi Nessie. Hi Esme." By this time, Nessie was done waiting for her overgrown playmate to finish drying off. She climbed up on the stool and stood up. However, even from that point, she was still over a foot shorter than Jacob. He obliged her by lifting her up and his long arms and expansive chest swallowed up her petite frame. Just for fun he shook out his hair one more time spraying rain drops on her and she pushed slightly away "Ewww".

I smiled as I watched the two of them interact. There was a playful ease in their manner and their joy radiated out into the bleakness of the day. It was easy to see how Jake had been Bella's sun during the dark period of Edward's absence.

"Jacob, I am going to head up to Seattle to check out several vintage clothing stores and was hoping you wouldn't mind spending the day with Nessie."

"No need to twist my arm" and with that Nessie pretended to twist his hand back, both of them laughing.

"I'll probably be gone most of the day. There is food in the refrigerator and in the pantry. Help yourself to whatever you like. And I promised Nessie that you two could watch the DVD of the broadway version of _**Peter Pan**_."

"Cool."

By this time, Nessie was wiggling out of Jake's arms and he reluctantly let her down. She grabbed his large hand in her smaller one and pulled him towards the living room. "Can you help me build a pirate's ship with my legos, Jake?"

Before I knew it, they were settled in the living room with several buckets of multi-colored legos surrounding them. Apparently this was my cue to exit. "Bye, Nessie! Bye, Jake! Have fun!"

I put on my rain coat and was slipping out the door as I heard their departing "See you later!"

_**Jacob's POV**_

In the background, I heard the door close behind Esme and the car pull out of the garage. I returned my full attention to Nessie and the pirates' ship that we were building. "Nessie, how big are we going to building our ship?"

"Let's use all the legos and make it really, really big."

All of a sudden, I had an idea. "Nessie, what if instead we created a pirates' ship using the table? We can even make a plank and pretend that the pirates are making Wendy walk the plank." Nessie's face lit up at the idea and she ran to get a sheet from the upstairs closet. I began to move around the chairs to support a board that was left over from the stage. Nessie and I both stepped back to admire our work. Nessie wasn't quite satisfied with our creation and she wanted to cut circles out of paper and tape them to the sheet as portholes.

"Now Jake, you be Captain Hook and I'll be Wendy."

"Who is going to save you from walking off the plank?"

Nessie thought for a moment and exclaimed "Why you can be both Hook and Peter?"

I rolled my eyes for dramatic effect though it meant nothing. I would play every role if that was what she wanted. She looked at me as if she were waiting for me to begin. So, I started by quoting Hook _**"See here, honey, I'll save you if you promise to be my mother". **_

Nessie quoted Wendy from the book _**"I would almost rather have no children at all"**_ and tossed her head and stubbornly refused to do what "Hook" wanted. But then as Hook, I ordered her to walk the plank. Nessie began to walk the plank and I then pretended to be Peter disguised as the crocodile and made a ticking sound as I moved up the side of our home-made ship. Nessie, as Wendy, made to jump and I rescued her from her fate of being attacked by the crocodile. We continued back and forth like this for awhile.

As Nessie and I were recovering from our "walk the plank" game, I heard a familiar car rambling down the driveway. I was wondering which of the pack had hi-jacked my car. Before I had time to consider it, I heard a shout and a bang on the door. I jumped up to answer it and as I did the door swung open and in came Seth, Embry, Quil and Claire. It seemed that I wasn't the only one with babysitting duties.

"Hey guys! Hi Claire!" I yelled out in greeting. There was a round of hellos in return. "What brings you over here?"

"The rain" moaned Seth "There is nothing to do, so we thought we would come by and see what was happening here."

"I told Claire about the Peter Pan stuff that Nessie has been doing and she wanted to see and of course, it's better than playing at the beach in the rain." Quil looked around at the makeshift pirates' ship and wooden plank, "How cool, you set up the stage inside."

"Wow, I want to try walking the plank too" squealed Claire and she quickly ran over to a chair and began climbing up on the table to get to the plank.

I quickly rescued a squirming Claire from falling off the table and returned her to Quil. "No, no, no, Jake. I can do it!" Claire continued to protest but I shot a look at Quil that indicated that he needed to keep an eye on her. She wasn't nearly as coordinated or sturdy as Nessie and even I could figure out what would happen if she tumbled head first off the plank. Quil quickly consoled Claire and compromised with her. She agreed to let him help her up to the plank and catch her as she jumped off.

Embry rolled his eyes at the whole thing and headed into the kitchen to rummage through the pantry for food. He came back in with a bag of chips and some sodas that he doled out to the others and plopped himself down in front of the TV with the remote control.

Nessie decided that now that there were several of us we could play the part of the pirates and the lost boys and she and Claire could take turns being Wendy. She went over to the TV and turned it off and stood in front of Embry with her hands on her hips. In a very serious tone, she said "Embry, we need you as one of the pirates."

"Hey, I was watching that" protested Embry. I stood behind Nessie and glared at Embry. I didn't have to say anything for him to know that this wasn't a choice. "Never mind the TV, Nessie" grumbled Embry "I would love to be a pirate or whatever you need." He pulled himself up from the couch and trudged over to the pirates' ship.

The morning passed quickly as we continued to act out different scenes from Peter Pan under Nessie's directions. As hunger began to take over, we left our set and moved into the kitchen to make lunch. Everyone pitched in to help and started pulling out the fixin's for sandwiches. We didn't bother to set the table but instead just stood around munching our food while the girls sat on the barstools at the wooden counter. Although Nessie's verbal skills and understanding far surpassed Claire's, she seemed to enjoy spending time chatting and laughing with her.

Just as we were about to return to the dining room, Claire noticed the box of Kellog's® Rice Krispies and pulled it out. "Can we make rice krispy treats, Quil?" she asked. Quil looked to me and I looked around the kitchen and the pantry. The recipe was on the box. How hard could they be to make? Sure enough, Esme had all the ingredients on hand. As I was melting butter and marshmallows on the stovetop, Claire and Nessie were working on pouring the cereal into a large bowl. The cereal began to overflow the container and fell onto the table and then onto the floor.

Seth came over to the girls and stepped in some of the cereal further grinding it into the floor. "Geez, watch what you are doing over there" I yelled out to him as I brought over the hot marshmallow mixture. As we mixed the marshmallow goop into the cereal, it seemed to get everywhere, in the girls hair, and on the counter, stove, and floor, and definitely on hands and in mouths. Forget making them into bars, the gang was digging into the warm, gooey mass and pulling off pieces to eat before they were even cooled.

Through mouthfuls of rice krispy treats, the guys joked about how much fun it would be to go outside and play in the rain. Claire and Nessie started jumping around and asking if they could join them. I didn't think the rain could hurt either of them much and it would be an easy way to distract them from the sweet treat that they had been devouring.

Once outside, someone initiated a tag game by touching Nessie and shouting "You're it". As the rain poured, we each took turns calling "it" and tagging one another. The girls were giggling and running and hiding behind one of us to avoid being tagged and the pack became increasingly more aggressive in tagging each other. Everyone was completely rain-soaked and beginning to be covered in mud. After about an hour of this craziness, I had to beg Nessie and Claire to come inside and get cleaned up. The girls took off running into the house with Seth, Embry, and Quil following them. I yelled "Remember to wipe your feet before walking on Esme's rugs." Obviously, no one was listening because by the time I got into the house there was a trail of muddy footprints leading through the kitchen, into the living room, across the beige colored rugs and up the stairs. I was going to be in big trouble when Esme got home.

_**Esme's POV (In Seattle)**_

As I was standing in the _Red Light Clothing Exchange_ looking at several dresses from the early 1900's, I was wondering how Nessie and Jake were doing at home. I was hoping that they had found food to eat and some games to play, and I knew that they had the DVD for the end of the day. What could go wrong? I returned my attention to the dresses before me. Two of the dresses would be perfect sizes for Nessie and I pictured how she would look in them. Imaging Nessie in the white dress with a blue satin sash and blue buttons with her hair pulled back and caught up in a blue ribbon made me smile.

I continued to search through the clothes selecting a few more items that seemed appropriate, some hats, and suits. Hmmm…I would need to find fabric and sew some items. Nessie's "lost boys" were lot taller than any of the boys I remember from that time period. After purchasing the items I had selected, I headed to the next store and continued this pattern over the course of the day.

When I had finished shopping, I headed back to where I had left my car. I started up the car and pointed it in the direction of Forks. I was eager to get back to Nessie and to show her what I had found. Wouldn't she be surprised by all the great costumes that I had discovered?

_**Jacob's POV **_

Glancing at the clock, my heart skipped a beat. Esme would be home soon. I had to do something quick. "Guys, we've got to clean this mess up." There were toys and scraps of paper, scissors, and tape all over the living room. The kitchen looked like a tornado had hit it. The remains of our lunch and the sticky containers from the rice krispy treats were all over the place. And the girls' muddy footprints left an easy trail to follow. If Edward saw this, I would be dead immediately. I was hoping that Esme might be more forgiving. Either way, I would probably lose my babysitting privileges. Quil looked equally queasy. He captured Claire and muttered something about needing to get her home and cleaned up before her mother realized that he had taken her outside in the rain without a coat or shoes. Embry slid out the door with Quil and Claire. Only Seth was left to help. We both looked at each other and shrugged.

"I'll start a bath for Nessie and see if I can get her cleaned up. Can you call your sister and see if she can come over?"

"Sure, but I don't think Leah is going to be too excited about cleaning up a mess we made. We are going to have to hear about it forever."

I took the stairs two at a time and found the bathroom and began running the water. I tossed some bubble bath smelly stuff into the water. Girls liked that. "Nessie, why don't you take off all your wet clothes and play in the tub. I'll go find you some clothes." While she got into the bathtub, I headed into Edward's old room and looked for some clothes. I grabbed a pair of purple sweatpants, some socks, and a floral top. I placed the clothes outside the bathroom door and told her that I had left clothes for her and I would be downstairs cleaning up.

Seth had started to clean up the living room and was doing a pretty decent job, but we both had no idea what to do about the stains on the carpet. I tried searching for a vacuum cleaner and some carpet cleaner. I had my head in the cabinet under the sink when Leah arrived. I heard a low whistle, and though I couldn't see her, the humor in her voice was evident. "You are in deep trouble."

"Thanks for stating the obvious. Instead of talking, do you think you can lend a hand?"

"Touchy, touchy aren't we? Where do you want me to start?" She looked around in disgust.

"Grab a sponge and see what you can do with this kitchen." I barked at her.

While we were cleaning, Nessie came down the stairs. Well she looked cleaner, but her hair was a tangled mess and the outfit I had picked out made her look a little like a misfit. Where was Alice when you needed her? No time. I scooped Nessie up. "How about watching that DVD of _**Peter Pan**_ while we clean up?"

"Sure" said Nessie. She seemed pretty worn out. I wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep. I placed her on the couch and popped the dvd into the machine and got it all set up for her. As she watched the movie, I returned to helping Seth and Leah with the clean up.

In a little while, I heard Esme's car pull into the driveway. "Oh crap!" Judgment time had arrived.

_**Esme POV**_

I was eager to show Nessie all of the clothes that I had discovered on my trip to Seattle. I pulled the bags out of the trunk and headed into the house. When I entered the kitchen, Leah was standing there looking sheepish while holding a pot and sponge in her hands. "Marshmallow goo, hard to get off of the pan!" She said as way of explanation and turned back to the sink to finish cleaning the pan.

My mouth fell open in surprise as I looked around. I could only imagine what the place had looked like earlier. It still showed evidence of lunch remains and some kind of cereal experiment gone bad. "Where's Jacob?" I squeaked out.

"In the living room" came her reply.

I should have known. All I had to do was follow the muddy footprints. When I entered the living room and dining area, I saw the vacuum cleaner out and both Seth and Jacob trying to get the mud out of my beautiful beige rug. Beyond them, the _**Peter Pan**_ DVD played on the television and Nessie was curled up asleep on the couch in a different set of clothes than I had left her in.

"Hi Esme" Jacob greeted me, looking nervous and just a little embarrassed.

"Hey Esme, sorry about the rug." Seth offered as way of greeting and apology.

I wasn't sure if I should be furious or burst into laughter. I decided that by the looks on the boys faces that amused might be the better choice. Getting angry wouldn't help the situation, but they were going to finish cleaning up the mess.

"Jacob, I am not going to even ask right now what happened. But I do expect that this place will be cleaned and returned to its original state before you leave."

The guys nodded and went back to work. I put my packages down near the staircase and went to explore the rest of the house. Fortunately, the only real disaster upstairs was the bathroom. I drained the water from the tub and rinsed it out, and then I put the wet towels and dirty clothes into the hamper.

As I came back down the stairs, I heard Carlisle enter. His face held a similar bemused-shocked look that mine had earlier. After several decades of living with our gang, we had walked in on a lot worse. He just shook his head, and ran his hand through his hair. "Well, looks like you had fun today."

A little later, everything had been restored to normal. Carlisle had taken Nessie up to her room and tucked her into bed. Jacob, Seth, and Leah said their good-byes and departed. I had just settled down on the couch when Carlisle slipped in besides me.

"So where were we?" he whispered into my ear. I guess later had come.

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Quotes are cited directly from chapter 14 page 164 of _The Adventures of Peter Pan_, copyright © 1911 by J.M. Barrie

**Note**: If you want to see the first outfit that Nessie was wearing, you can click on th links on my profile page.

Please read and review....


	5. Chapter 5: My Side of the Story

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer still owns the Twilight universe, the characters, phrasing, and images. I'm just happy to spend some time in their world. J.M. Barrie definitely owns the World of Peter and Wendy and their friends. And this is the tale of what happens when two worlds collide.

**A/N**: Though the last chapter had been a lot of fun to write, I needed a transition chapter. The story needed some other layers before moving towards the concluding chapters. In this one, I not only incorporate Emse's and Jacob's POV's but also Leah's. Before you think that we have abandoned Peter, Wendy, and the others, never fear they will be back in Chapter 6.

There are a number of Quileute Legends that are referred to in the story below. The retelling of stories, tales, and legends is part of an oral tradition among the Quileutes. For the link and citing for the stories that I have referred to, please check out my profile page.

**The title of this chapter refers to the song "My Side of the Story" by Hodges who wrote this piece for his sister Megan who was struggling through a difficult time. Just seemed to fit on so many levels….To see a video of the song, click on the link on my profile page.

My apologies for any errors....with the holiday, it was more difficult to connect with my beta. And thank you to miss understood615 for brainstorming and for reviewing what you could.

"My Side of the Story"**

"_And then at last they all got into bed for Wendy's story, the story they loved best, the story Peter hated. Usually when she began to tell this story he left the room or put his hands over his ears; and possibly if he had done either of those things this time they might all still be on the island. But tonight, he remained on his stool; and we shall see what happened." – J.M. Barrie Chapter 10, pages 124-125 _

**Leah's POV**

Why does enrolling in college have to be so difficult? You wait around in one line only to get to the window and the person behind it tells you that you should have actually been in the other line which originally had no one there but now is snaking around the corridor. I needed to remind myself to keep it together. The Admissions Building of Peninsula College would not be the best place for me to lose control and phase into a wolf. Aside from the obvious concerns about exposure, innocent people could seriously become injured. I inhaled sharply, thanked the bored looking student worker for her time, and grabbed up my papers and trucked off to stand in yet one more line.

After another 45 minutes of waiting in line, I was able to submit all of the necessary pieces of paper needed to apply for financial aid, and enroll in classes for the fall. I was somewhat nervous about how I would tell all of this to my mom and the others. It hadn't been easy keeping it from Jacob and Seth and the rest of the pack so I had been maintaining human form as often as possible recently. I wanted to think this through and have everything in place before I announced my plans. Since there didn't appear to be any immediate threats to our tribe looming on the horizon, and with the pending departure of our resident vampires, it appeared that I might be able to pick up the pieces of my life and determine how to proceed. At one time, I had dreamt of marriage and children with Sam, but that vision had shattered with his imprinting on Emily. Instead of embarking on a fairy tale life, my transformation into a wolf turned me into a character in some pathetic B-rated horror movie.

Well, I didn't need to allow fate to dictate everything. My mother seemed to be putting her life together after the shock of both of her children becoming wolves and then the loss of my father. She had been spending more and more of her free time with Charlie Swan. How much more ironic could life get? The wolves' mother with the vampire's father. I chuckled sadly to myself. Charlie was a good man and he treated my mom well. When I wasn't focused on myself, I could admit that they were good together. Seth had his friends and still needed to finish up high school. Jacob's destiny and future lay with Renesmee and she belonged with the Cullens who would be leaving soon. So where did that leave me? I wouldn't go back to Sam's pack. I had a place that I belonged and that place was as a beta in Jacob's pack, or was it? Was the pack really needed anymore? Was I really needed anymore? As I headed back to Forks and La Push from Port Angeles, my head began to throb from it all.

**Esme's POV**

Several weeks had passed since Edward and Bella left for the Island. They would be coming home soon. In fact, everyone would be home soon. As much as I was enjoying this extended time with Renesmee, I did truly miss all my children. Even though time was different for us, and a few weeks was really insignificant, it was beginning to feel like an eternity to me. I could also tell that despite all of our attempts to keep Nessie busy by building the stage, creating sets, and making costumes she was missing her parents as well. Phone calls didn't seem frequent enough and bedtimes were getting harder. Carlisle and I needed to bribe her in order to get her to sleep. If not, she would try distracting us from tucking her in by repeated requests for more stories, drinks of water, and philosophical questions.

It was around this time that Jacob had shyly approached us with a request. He had been somewhat reticent since the day that I came home to find the house turned upside down. However, he wanted to know if we would allow Nessie to come to La Push. They were going to be having a special gathering on the reservation and he thought that she might enjoy it. He assured us that Sue and Charlie would be there and that he would not let anything happen to her. I had to conceal a smile at that thought. Jacob would more quickly permit his left arm to be cut off than to allow any harm to occur to Nessie. Carlisle and I shared with him that we would discuss the request and get back to him. Not that we hadn't forgiven him for the recent episode, but we both thought that it might be good to let him sweat it out. I am pretty certain that Jake never left the woods that night in anticipation of our response.

Before giving Jake the okay that he so desperately wanted, Carlisle called Charlie to discuss the event on the reservation. I watched as Carlisle picked up the phone and quickly entered in Charlie's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello Charlie, This is Carlisle. How are you this evening?" Even when Carlisle was trying to be casual, his faint English accent still gave his words a more formal sound.

"I was calling to ask you about a gathering that you will be attending down at La Push. Jacob would like Nessie to attend and we were wondering if you would be willing to bring her to the event and then back home?"

I could not clearly hear Charlie's response but it appeared affirmative. Carlisle discussed with him some logistical details and after agreeing on a time for pick up, Carlisle bid him a good evening and placed the phone back on its cradle.

Carlisle turned to me and a smile crept across his face. "Charlie does not understand why our family never goes to the reservation." Ah, trying to explain the history between our kind and the tribe. Fortunately, he understood that some things were on a need to know basis. Sue had explained to him that certain traditions were best left the way they were. "However, he is more than delighted to be able to take his granddaughter there on our behalf."

I stepped outside the kitchen door and called out to Jacob. Even though I hadn't called him very loudly, I knew that he would hear me. His hearing, especially in wolf form, was as good as mine. Sure enough, I could see Jacob now in his human form lope across the backyard with long, smooth strides.

"Hi Jacob" I greeted him. I could see the anticipation on his face and in his eyes, but I could tell he didn't want to seem too eager to ask for our decision and was waiting for my lead.

"Hi Esme, Hi Doc" Jacob greeted us as he strode into the living room and settled himself on one of the chairs.

Carlisle and I sat down across from him. "Jacob, we spoke with Charlie this evening and he has agreed to pick up Renesmee and bring her to La Push for your gathering. However, we do expect that you will have her home by 10 p.m."

"That's cool, Doc. No problem. Charlie and I will make sure that she is fine and we'll make sure that she is back by 10."

"Thank you Jacob. Tomorrow, we will tell Nessie about it. I am sure that she will be thrilled."

***************

After Nessie woke up, Jake, Carlisle and I shared with Nessie the plans to go to the reservation in a couple of days. As expected, she was thrilled and struggled to remain seated. If she could have left right that minute, she would have. We also made sure that she understood that on the day of the trip she would need to take a nap since she would be out later than usual. She vigorously nodded her head and her curls bounced around her face. Carlisle wished everyone a good day and headed out to the hospital. Jake offered to take Nessie hunting. It had been awhile and as they set out I reminded Jacob to stay nearby and stay out of the path of humans.

While Jacob and Nessie were off making a game of hunting, I thought I would take advantage of the sunshine to do some gardening around the outside of the house. I was in the middle of moving around some scotch heather referred to as "Red Fred" and adding some additional "Briggs Moonlight" when I heard footsteps. I looked up to see Leah standing there looking slightly uncomfortable. "Good morning, Leah. I didn't expect to see you today."

"Uh, hi. I-if you're busy, I can leave" mumbled Leah.

"No, don't leave. I'm just re-arranging some plants. I would be happy to have some company. Alice typically joins me and with her being away it isn't quite the same."

"I was wondering if I could ask you a question?"

"Leah, you are always welcome to ask me questions. What's on your mind, dear?"

"Well, I went over to Peninsula College yesterday and submitted my paperwork for the fall. I…"

"That's fabulous Leah, I am so glad for you."

"Thank you Esme, but that is part of the problem."

"Problem??? I don't understand. Why would going to college be a problem?" I finished patting down some dirt around one of the plants and dusted the remainder off of my hands on my jeans. I was curious as to why college would be a problem for Leah. I stood up and looked squarely at Leah. "Would you like to come in and I could fix you a snack? Or would you prefer to pull-up a rock to sit on while we talk." It seemed this might be a little more complex than I thought. I pointed in the direction of some large boulders that we could sit on.

"I think the boulders will be fine. I-I'm not hungry right now."

We both settled ourselves down on a boulder and I waited while Leah made herself more comfortable. She stared down at the ground for a moment and her hand fiddled with a string on her shorts. "You need to understand the Pack and the Tribe. Once you are part of the Pack, your role or job is basically as a protector of the Tribe. There isn't really a need to go to college or get a job. It's just that lately I have been trying to figure out what is right for me. I don't really fit anywhere. The pack has always been males and then here comes me, the freak. I don't, I won't go back to Sam's pack and Jacob will likely be leaving when your family leaves. As his beta, I could follow him, but I don't really want to leave. My family and friends are here. And there aren't any immediate threats to the reservation at this point. I-I just don't know what to do? How do I explain what I want to the others?" This was nearly the longest conversation I had ever heard come out of Leah's mouth with the exception of the time during Bella's pregnancy when she clearly let Bella know her thoughts about how she was treating Jacob. I was getting a clearer picture of her desperation to confide in someone as I watched her. While she talked, she managed to unravel more of the fringe on her shorts. Her nervous energy evident more in her hands than in her voice.

"Leah, it sounds like you know what you want to do and you have been very articulate in explaining it to me. I don't think Jacob would object. My guess is he would be only too happy to support you in your decision. Your mother seems very practical to me and I can't imagine that she would mind you working on a degree."

Leah's eyes darted in every which way, but my face. "Yah, I guess that's true. Maybe I just needed to hear myself say it aloud to someone other than me." She chuckled somewhat bitterly. When she finally looked into my eyes, she tossed out a quick thanks and good-bye and then bounded off the boulder and back into the woods.

I shook my head sadly. It had to be hard for Leah on so many levels. I hoped that she would find the wisdom and strength that she needed to make her decision.

**Jacob's POV (A few days later...)**

In the summer months, the members of the Tribe gather together. There would be food, fun and games, but one of the traditions would be the bonfire where everyone would sit around and listen to the elders tell the stories and legends of our people. This would be Nessie's first tribal event and bonfire. I was excited to have her join me. Billy did not often get to see Nessie and he was excited to see her. Leah had already arrived and was hanging out with my sister Rachel. Paul was of course not far from my sister. I situated my dad's wheelchair near them and turned as I heard Nessie's laughter ringing down the hill.

Charlie had stopped by the Clearwater's home on his way to the meeting place. Seth was racing Nessie a few yards in front of Charlie and Sue. Sam and Emily were in the crowd along with Quil, Claire and other members of their families. Embry was standing near Jared and Kim and some of their friends. They were laughing and joking around. All of the members of each of the wolf packs were present and as protectors of the Quileute tribe, they were considered honored guests.

Soon, everyone was gathered around the tables of food. Like the others, I piled my plate full with some of everything. Of course, there was always the friendly competitions about whose fish fry was better than another's or who made the best fruit pie. I, like most, didn't care. Stuffing oneself completely full was my only goal. Nessie, on the other hand, was less interested in eating and more interested in all of the people and what was happening around her. I kept an eye on her as she flitted about chatting with everyone. She did have an amazing ability to draw people in and no one appeared to be able to resist her charm.

Finally, the time arrived for the bonfire and the retelling of ancient legends. I had spoken with my father and Sam and some others and we agreed that tonight we would pass on the tales of the Cold Ones. There were plenty of tales that could be told and I was certain that Edward wouldn't appreciate Nessie hearing those stories at this time. There would be time in the future for her to learn of those legends and to understand how in many ways she had helped create a new bond between the Quileutes and the Cold Ones.

Tonight, the first of the elders began with a tale of how the various tribal groups had come to be named. The story was commonly referred to as the _Quileute Creation Myth_ and I had heard it told many times before. The storyteller's deep, strong voice rang out among the crowds. Several members of our tribe were dressed in special costumes and acted out the tale and others provided a simple musical rhythm as the words drifted across the many listeners. The words told the story of how Q'waeti' had traveled around instructing the people on how to behave, how to fish, or build houses. The tale explained how he taught the Hoh to walk on their feet and to catch smelt, and how he taught the Neah to fish so that they would not perish. When he arrived at the Quileute land, he found no people only two wolves. He transformed them into people and instructed them on how to live. When he came upon the Ozette or Makah, he only saw two dogs and changed them into people. The tale ends with Q'waeti' wandering further and continuing to instruct those he found.

Nessie's eyes widened as she watched the actors on the stage and listened to the tales. She appeared to have blocked out everything around her and was completely enraptured by the story unfolding before her. Before the next storyteller took center stage, Nessie placed her tiny hand on my face and compared the story of Q'waeti' turning the wolves into Quileutes with images of myself and the others as wolves. She had indeed been paying attention to the stories.

Within our culture there were numerous tales of the Thunderbird. I explained to Nessie that the next story would be about how the Thunderbird and whale saved the Quileutes from starvation and death. The voice of the second storyteller rang out as the first had. It told the tale of how rainstorms and hail had killed many of the people and driven the others to the prairies. The storms prevented the people from fishing and killed much of the vegetation that the people needed to survive on. The Great Chief called upon the Great Spirit for help. It was believed that if the Great Spirit did not help, then it was his will for the people to die and they would die bravely. However, the Great Chief called out and the people prayed expectantly to the Great Spirit.

"_The people waited. No one spoke. There was nothing but silence and darkness. Suddenly, there came a great noise, and flashes of lightning cut the darkness. A deep whirring sound, like giant wings beating, came from the place of the setting sun. All of the people turned to gaze toward the sky above the ocean as a huge, bird-shaped creature flew toward them. _

"_This bird was larger than any they had ever seen. Its wings, from tip to tip, were twice as long as a war canoe. It had a huge, curving beak, and its eyes glowed like fire. The people saw that its great claws held a living, giant whale._

"_In silence, they watched while Thunderbird - for so the bird was named by everyone -carefully lowered the whale to the ground before them. Thunderbird then flew high in the sky, and went back to the thunder and lightning it had come from. Perhaps it flew back to its perch in the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit. Thunderbird and Whale saved the Quillayute from dying. The people knew that the Great Spirit had heard their prayer." __**(Quileute Thunderbird Tale)**_

The final stories were a collection of tales about the Raven. The Raven was a lazy, mischievous, trickster who often listened to bad advice or copied others which got him into trouble. The fables involving Raven were meant to teach people especially children lessons about why it was wrong to lie or to treat others poorly. There were many other yarns that had been spun involving human-like creatures with the names and characteristics of certain animals. Raven often met with Bear, and Eagle, and Fish-duck in these stories. As Nessie continued to watch the fire burn, and the various individuals dressed in character representing Raven and others, she once again reached up to ask a question. She was imaging her own gathering back at the Cullens with the stage, set, and costumes. Could some of her friends from the reservation come and see the story about Peter? She also thought that Peter was a little like Raven and how they were both very mischievous and got into trouble. I assured her we could invite some friends and that they would come to see her play. And I chuckled about her comparison of Peter and Raven. I had never thought about it before, but she was right.

Nessie turned her attention back to the story and settled more comfortably on my lap. I became absorbed in the voices and the images of the tales, as they seemed to come alive around us. Nessie, despite her enthusiasm for all of the richness of the colors, and music, fell asleep after the first Raven's tale. She was cradled in my arms, her hair rippling around her. I could feel her breath softly against my skin. Though I knew we both tended to run hotter than normal, I still pulled a blanket over her small body for protection.

Charlie suddenly came over and placed his hand upon my shoulder. "Hey Jake, I know both you and Nessie seem comfortable but we promised the Cullens that we would have her back home by 10. Time to head out."

I slowly and carefully rose to my feet attempting to limit any jostling to Nessie's sleeping form and carried her to Charlie's car. I placed her in the booster seat in the back of the car and attempted to use the blanket and a jacket to keep her head from bouncing around. "Charlie, thanks for coming down tonight. I know that my dad and Sue and the others appreciated it. And thanks too for bringing Nessie." I watched as the car drove down the road and as the taillights grew dim and I turned reluctantly to return to the others. In my mind, I still held the image that Nessie had shared with me of her understanding of the wolves from the story as compared to my pack in wolf form. Though I knew the stories, there was something about her understanding that resonated in my core and reminded me of where I had come.

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Beginning quote is cited directly from The Adventures of Peter Pan, copyright © 1911 by J.M. Barrie

Let me know what you think of this chapter….did I verve too far off…please read and review….Thanks.

Live links to each of these can be found on my profile page. I have included partial information here by way of referencing the stories and giving credit where credit is due.

_Quileute Creation Myth_

_This version of the legend comes from Manuel Andrade's 1930 collection Quileute Texts, which is out of print. The storyteller was a bilingual Quileute man named Hallie George._

_Quileute Thunderbird Tale_

These stories are adapted from Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest by Ella E. Clark, University of California Press, 1953.

_Raven Tales_

Told by Fred Woodruff, Sr., Compiled by Vicky Jensen and Jay Powell for the Quileute Tribe


	6. Chapter 6: Homecoming

**Disclaimer**: Stephenie Meyer still owns the Twilight universe, the characters, phrasing, and images. I'm just happy to spend some time in their world. J.M. Barrie definitely owns the World of Peter and Wendy and their friends. And this is the tale of what happens when two worlds collide.

**A/N**: My apologies for the delays in getting this chapter posted. Aside from a visitor from out of the country which limited my time to write, I also have been doing some traveling and visiting with my family.

I have not been able to have my beta work on this as much as I normally do so I apologize in advance for any mistakes. I tried to review it carefully but there may be things that slipped through. And thank you miss understood615 for the feedback you were able to give me. It was very helpful.

Thank you to everyone who has been continuing to read and review this story. It is for you that I have continued to pursue this story even when faced with writer's block and crazy schedules.

**The title of this chapter refers to the song "The Homecoming Song" by Owsley the chorus seemed to me to fit the sentiment of this chapter. Sorry, no YouTube link for this one. I have included the words to the chorus at the end for those who are interested.

"_**Homecoming"****_

" '_**Oh, all right,' he said at last and gulped. Then he unbarred the window. 'Come on, Tink,' he cried, with a frightful sneer at the laws of nature; 'we don't want any silly mothers'; and he flew away.**_

_**Thus Wendy and John and Michael found the window open for them after all, which was of course more than they deserved. They alighted on the floor, quite unashamed of themselves; and the youngest one had already forgotten his home." – J.M. Barrie Chapter 16, page 189.**_

**Esme's POV**

We were in the backyard wrestling with a set, when I heard the unmistakable trilling laughter of my daughter, Alice, as she and Jasper rounded the side of the house. They were the first to arrive home. I extricated myself from the material that I was currently working with and ran over to embrace both of them.

"Oh, Alice, Jasper, it is so wonderful to have you both home again." While I was hugging Alice, Nessie nearly flew from the stage into Jasper's arms.

"Hi Uncle Jasper, hi Aunt Alice. I really missed you."

Jasper was grinning as he returned Nessie's hug. "We have missed you too, Miss Nessie." Alice reached up on her toes and gave her niece a kiss on the cheek indicating her own feelings of joy in their reunion.

Carlisle approached me and watched the scene unfolding in front of us. He moved forward and patted Jasper on his back and pulled Alice in for an affectionate squeeze. "The place has not been quite the same without the both of you. Welcome home!"

At this point, Jasper and Alice both noticed the stage and commotion happening in the backyard. With Alice's gift, she didn't need to ask what was being planned. "Esme, we don't have a lot of time. We need to get invitations made and sent out. The yard needs to be decorated. Food needs to be ordered. What are we waiting for everyone? Let's get moving." Jasper suppressed a laugh, and just shook his head at his wife knowing that he would be dragged into this plan whether he wanted to be or not.

Nessie eagerly showed Alice and Jasper the stage and sets and costumes and told them of her plan to perform scenes from _**Peter Pan**_. "Jacob and his pack have agreed to be in the play. Uncle Jasper, I want you and Uncle Emmett to be in the play too. And you too Aunt Alice."

Alice gazed off into the future for a moment and then placed a small reassuring hand on Jasper's arm. "It seems that you are going to be a pirate and no amount of fussing is going to change the outcome." He knew better than to argue with her about this.

"So what are you going to be or dare I ask?" responded Jasper.

Alice grimaced slightly and grabbed my arm to drag me into the house "Oh, you'll see. Esme, we need to get moving on all the details if we are having this party in less than a week."

Carlisle and Nessie pulled Jasper towards the stage where Jacob and Seth were testing out how to move the set pieces around and where things needed to go so that on the night of the performance no one would trip over anything. While Nessie explained her plans to Jasper, Alice and I began catching each other up on time away from one another.

After weeks of Carlisle and I putting Nessie to bed, Alice and Jasper had insisted on spending time with her. I took this opportunity to curl up next to my husband on the sofa. He was engrossed in the newspaper and I had several home decorating magazines that I was flipping through. It felt good to have some of my family back at home. Though the house had been far from empty, Jake had been around with his pack, it hadn't been the same.

As part of her bedtime routine, Nessie had convinced Jasper to read to her. Carlisle had been working through a series of Shakespeare readings with Nessie to teach her about plays. We could hear Jasper pick up the volume of Shakespeare's A Mid-summer's Night Dream, and began reading it to her with a thick, exaggerated southern accent of all things. Carlisle lowered the newspaper he was reading and rolled his eyes mumbling something about "what was this world coming to".

The next day Alice and I were deep in discussion about the plans for Nessie's theater event. The dining room table was covered with costumes and props, and materials and supplies for the play were scattered around the room. Alice stopped in mid-action and then commented "Esme, Rose and Emmett will be arriving this afternoon. Great! We can really use their help to get ready."

"Wonderful, and Edward and Bella will be her in two days. It will be interesting to see Bella's response to all of this." I knew that Bella was not one for big events, but in this case the focus was more on Nessie and her play than on Bella.

"Bella really needs to get over her dread of parties. She can't spend an eternity not having any fun."

"So how do you think Edward will react to all of this?"

Alice looked off pensively before replying "He'll want to over react as usual, but since Nessie has her heart set on doing this, he'll give in."

While we were working inside, Jasper and Carlisle were working alongside Jake and his pack. We could hear Nessie assigning parts to the pack. "Jake, can you be Peter Pan? Seth, Embry, and Quil, you can be lost boys." Alice and I moved to the door and poked our heads out to watch what was going on. Alice had assured me that it would be good.

"Awww, I wanted to be a pirate" admitted Seth who was echoed by the others. "Pirates have swords and sail on a ship."

Nessie stood before Seth and the others and placed her hands on her hips ignoring the fact that they all towered over her. In as stern a voice as she could muster, she said "I'm the director and I get to decide who will be what." It would have been completely comical, if it wasn't so serious to Nessie. We silenced our giggles behind our hands.

Jake had quietly moved behind her and just glared at the others. It wasn't as if he was forcing them to go along with her that wasn't his style but the others knew that their cooperation was important. "Well, I guess the lost boys win in the end anyways" muttered Embry and the others conceded to being part of Peter's gang.

Nessie then turned to Leah who was putting some finishing paint touches on one of the canvas sets. "Leah, I think you will be a perfect Tiger Lily."

Everyone inhaled and held a breath, even if breathing was unnecessary for some of us. No one including Alice was certain as to how Leah would respond.

Leah froze with her paint brush dangling in mid-air and then surprising us all a smile appeared on her face and she nodded her head "Nessie that would be great. Tiger Lily led all the Indian fighters and she kicked butt. I'll be happy to play her."

"Thank you Leah, you'll be great" exclaimed Nessie as she threw her small arms around Leah's neck. Leah dropped her brush and again momentarily froze before placing an arm around the little girl and returning her hug.

Just at that moment, Emmett and Rose arrived. We all rushed over to exchange greetings and give hugs. Having my family return was better than any gifts that I could receive on Christmas. Emmett scooped up Nessie and gave her a bear hug. "Uncle Emmett, will you be a pirate in my play?"

Without missing a beat, Emmett began to talk like a pirate "Arr, me hearty, I be just the one for yer play. Cap'n Emmett at yer service." He finished with a sweeping bow in her direction.

Everyone just groaned, and Nessie burst out in giggles. Jasper slapped Emmett on the back and said "So what gives you the right to be captain? I think I should be captain. I've had military experience and you haven't."

Rose rescued Nessie from Emmett's arms and moved her out of the way. This kind of brotherly bickering usually resulted in some sort of tussle and it would be best to have Nessie away from them. Jake mouthed a silent "Thank you" to Rose from his place near the stage.

Alice signaled for Rose to follow her inside so that she could update her on the plans for the play, leaving the guys to work out their positions.

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Finally the morning for Edward and Bella's return arrived. Carlisle and I drove Nessie to the airport. After dropping us at baggage claim, my husband went to park the car. As soon as we had exited the Mercedes, my darling granddaughter nearly knocked me off my feet as she dragged me into the building.

"C'mon gramma, hurry up."Her excitement and enthusiasm over her parents return was more than evident.

"Darling, we need to walk at a normal pace or those around us will be suspicious." Nothing was going to convince her to slow down. Carlisle joined us shortly while we waited at the bottom of the stairs. Nessie kept dancing around us and all those waiting could not help but smile at the little girl's excitement. Just when it seemed that she was about to explode, I caught a glimpse of Edward and Bella moving through the crowds and descending the stairs to where we waited. Nessie caught their eye as they stepped off the last step and she threw herself into the arms of her parents.

"Momma, Daddy, I missed you" squealed Nessie in utter delight at their return.

"And we missed you too dear" her parents chorused while embracing her in their arms.

Carlisle and I stood back and watched their family reunion. There weren't a lot of words expressed between them. Between Edward's mind-reading, Nessie's ability to share her memories with her touch, the exchange of touches and hugs and shared looks conveyed all that needed to be conveyed.

After a few moments, Carlisle laid a hand gently on Edward's shoulder. "Son, let's move towards the baggage carousel. As soon as we claim your luggage, we can head home and you can finish catching up." He guided the happy family to the designated turn-belt and soon had retrieved their luggage.

The ride home passed quickly and before long we were headed down the long driveway to our house. Nessie had insisted on blind-folding both Edward and Bella before they entered the backyard. Of course, Edward had already "seen" what Nessie had wanted to show them in everyone's minds, but he graciously played along for his daughter's sake. Both of them were amazed at how Nessie had gotten everyone roped into this whole project including doing this performance.

By the time that Edward and Bella had returned, Alice had been in full party planning mode for a couple of days. Invitations had already been designed, printed, stuffed into envelopes, and mailed out. Emmett and Jasper were roped into transforming the backyard to a theater setting under hers and Rose's watchful eyes. And Rose and I were working to make sure that all of the costumes fit now that we seemed to have a list of performers to match the clothes.

"Ahoy" Emmett called out to Edward and Bella from the stage "Arr, me hearties, the little lass below 'tis lookin' for a few deckhands to join us fer some adventures on the high seas. Are ye in or are ye a couple of scallywags?"

Jasper threw the hammer he was working with at Emmett who moved away just out of the path of the flying tool. Jasper shook his head while turning towards Edward and Bella. "It seems that Emmett is confusing 'Peter Pan' with the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' please just agree to whatever he says so that he'll stop all this nonsense."

"Daddy, I need you to be Captain Hook and Momma, you and Aunt Rose can be mermaids, and I am going to be Wendy."

Edward looked like he was going to initially protest his role as Captain Hook, but then he watched Bella's face turn even paler than it's normal alabaster. He quickly reached his arm around to pull Bella and Nessie closer to him and assured her "Bella, love, you'll make a beautiful mermaid."

Bella didn't look assured and Rose tossed her blonde hair behind her shoulder and smugly commented "Bella, when I get finished with you, you will be a perfect mermaid." Nessie smiled at her aunt and gave her mother a squeeze.

"Welcome home Bella" I said as I took Nessie from her arms and passed her to Edward. I led Bella into the house to get her away from the news of her becoming a mermaid and all of the commotion swirling around outside.

"Bella, your home!" Alice exclaimed, jumping up from what she was working on to give her favorite sister a big hug.

"Hi Alice, it is so good to see you." Bella returned Alice's embrace and stood there with her for a moment. "So I understand that you are on board with my daughter's plans for this play."

"Of course, we have already finished the invitations and now we are working on costumes, decorations, and other details for the play. It is going to be here before we know it."

"I know you heard about Nessie's plans for me to be a mermaid. What has she asked you to be?"

Just before Alice responded, I realized that she had avoided mentioning what she was going to be. I wondered if she would share it with us now or make us wait. I turned in Alice's direction as she was about to speak. "Oh, you will see on the evening of the performance." Alice gave us a wink and returned to her work. I could see the frustration and annoyance arising on Bella's face, but she had also learned that there was no arguing with Alice. We would just have to wait for the night of the play to arrive.

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Beginning quote is cited directly from The Adventures of Peter Pan, copyright © 1911 by J.M. Barrie

Did you know that there is an "International Talk Like a Pirate Day"? Amazing what you find on Google. I will try to get the links put on my profile page.

**Homecoming **

by Owsley

Chorus:

I've spent a long time away  
And it's good to be home  
And together is better than being alone  
It's a far cry from anything I've ever felt like before  
Yes and long is the road  
That's been leading me back to your door

**Our journey is almost at an end. Let me know what you think of this chapter…please read and review….Thanks. **


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